"What Do I Have to Do" is a song by Kylie Minogue from her third studio album Rhythm of Love (1990). It was originally scheduled as the follow-up single to "Better the Devil You Know", but was relegated to the third single with "Step Back in Time" as the second. It was released on January 21, 1991, and was met with positive reviews from critics.
The song peaked at number eleven in Australia, and number six in the UK, which broke her streak of only top five entries on the UK chart.
"What Do I Have to Do" has been performed on most of Kylie's tours, including the Rhythm of Love Tour and the Let's Get to It Tour. It also made an appearance on the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour in 2011, and has been performed most recently during Kylie's performance at the F1 Grand Prix 2016.
Background[]
There are three official promotional mixes of the song. The early unreleased first version is synth orienated and has multilayered vocals. Much of the synth was omitted and the drums, bass and vocals were toned down for the album version. The third version, the 7" Mix, contains a TR-909 house beat, multilayered vocals in the chorus and relies much less on the synthesizers on the album version. This version of the song also contains samples from American comedian Sam Kinison.
Originally, "What Do I Have To Do" was planned to be released as the follow-up single to "Better the Devil You Know", but was later released as the third single off the album instead, and the track was specially remixed for single release. The 1999 biographical book Girl Next Door identified this track as Kylie's favourite to perform live.
The single artwork was photographed by Robert Erdmann.
Reception[]
Critical response[]
"What Do I Have To Do" received very positive reviews from many music critics. While reviewing the album Rhythm of Love, Chris True from Allmusic highlighted the song as an album standout. While reviewing Ultimate Kylie, Mark Edwards from Stylus Magazine gave it a positive remark, saying along with "Shocked", "Give Me Just a Little More Time"; "were great songs and suddenly Kylie was a little bit cool." Jason Shawahn from About.com said along with "Better The Devil You Know" and "Wouldn't Change a Thing"; "are nothing if not pop masterpieces." He also labelled the song as a "pop classic". NME voted the song as the thirtieth best track of 1991.
Chart performance[]
"What Do I Have to Do" debuted at number twenty-seven on the Australian Singles Chart, until rising and peaking at number eleven, staying there for two consecutive weeks. The song then debuted at number ninety-nine on the Dutch Top 40, until peaking at number eighty-one for one week. The song then debuted and peaked at number fifty on the French Singles Chart.
Formats and track listings[]
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "What Do I Have to Do".
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CD single
7" vinyl single
12" vinyl single
iTunes Digital EP – Remixes
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iTunes Digital EP – The Original Synth Mixes
iTunes Digital EP – What Do I Have to Do?
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Live performances[]
| Tour | Dates | Performances |
|---|
| Rhythm of Love Tour | 10 February―10 March, 1991 (All dates) | 20 |
| Let's Get to It Tour | 25 October―8 November, 1991 (All dates) | 12 |
| Intimate and Live | 2 June―31 July, 1998 (All dates) | 22 |
| On a Night Like This Tour | 3 March―15 May, 2001 (All dates) | 46 |
| Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour | 19 March―17 May, 2005 (All dates) | 38 |
| Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour | 11 November, 2006―23 January, 2007 (All dates) | 34 |
| For You, For Me | 30 September―13 October, 2009 (All dates) | 9 |
| Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour | 19 February―14 July, 2011 (All dates) | 77 |
| Kylie Summer 2019 | 20―23 June, 2019 2―3 July, 2019 6 July―3 August, 2019 |
12 |
| Tension Tour | 15 February—25 June, 2025 29 June—7 July, 2025 10 July, 2025 15 July, 2025 7—26 August, 2025 |
61 |
| Total: | 331 |
Notes[]
Since its release, "What Do I Have to Do" has been performed on most of Kylie's tours. It's 7" Mix was part of the Rhythm of Love Tour in 1991 which was launched in support of Rhythm of Love; it was then featured in the Let's Get to It Tour which was an extension of the Rhythm of Love Tour, but was edited to support the release of Kylie's fourth studio album Let's Get to It. The song then appeared as the second song of the show in the Intimate and Live tour in 1998, which was in support of Impossible Princess; here, it followed a performance of "Too Far" and Bradley Stern from NewNowNext highlighted the live performance as the best song at the show, listing the performance at number three on their Kylie Minogue In Concert: 8 Amazing Live Performances.
The song then was featured as the last song of the main body of the show in the On a Night Like This Tour, following a performance of "Light Years". It was then considered for inclusion in the KylieFever2002 between "Limbo" and "Light Years", but was eventually discarded; "Step Back in Time" was considered for the same position. The song was featured in the "Smiley Kylie" medley and the "Everything Taboo" medley in the Showgirl tour and "Homecoming tour respectively, which both also contained performances of "Shocked" and "Spinning Around"; in the "Everything Taboo" medley however, the song was cut short and only used one verse and chorus. The latter medley was also used in the For You, For Me tour in 2009, which was Kylie's first tour in North America. A new arrangement of the song was then included in the third section of the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour in 2011, following performances of "Cupid Boy" and "Get Outta My Way". More recently, the song was included in several shows performed by Kylie in 2016, most notably the F1 Grand Prix in Singapore, where it served as the second song in the set, following a performance of "Better the Devil You Know". The song also made an appearance in her Summer 2019 shows, in a medley with "Never Too Late". More recently "What Do I Have to Do" was included in the first act of the Tension Tour.
Lyrics[]
Aah aah aah, love you, love you
Aah aah aah, love you, love you
Don't tell me that it's no use
Love's always been my excuse
Don't tell me it ain't right
My heart is my alibi
Only you (You), you (You)
Get me acting crazy
Like I do (Do), do (Do)
You say you can't believe it
But it's true, ooh, ooh
It's true, ooh, ooh
What do I have to do to get the message through?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
What do I have to do to get it through to you?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
There ain't a single night
When I haven't held you tight
But it's always inside my head
Never inside my bed
And it's you (You), you (You)
Bringing out the passion
In my soul(Oo), oh (Oo)
And I gotta have you
Don't you know?
Don't you know?
What do I have to do to get the message through?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
What do I have to do to get it through to you?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Love you, love you
Only you (You), you (You)
Get me acting crazy
Like I do (Do), do (Do)
You say you can't believe it
But it's true, ooh, ooh
It's true, ooh, ooh
What do I have to do to get the message through?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
What do I have to do to get it through to you?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
What do I have to do to get the message through?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
What do I have to do to get it through to you?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
What do I have to do to get the message through?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
What do I have to do to get it through to you?
How can I prove that I really love you, love you?
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